Cleveland Browns visit Derek Carr, conduct workout

During the NFL Scouting Combine in February, General Manager Ray Farmer was asked if it is safe to say the Browns will take a quarterback in the three-day draft beginning May 8.
“I would say it could be safe … but it may not be what everybody thinks it’s going to be,” Farmer said. “There is an opportunity for some curveballs.”
Derek Carr might have been considered a “curveball” six weeks ago, but not anymore.
Farmer, Browns head coach Mike Pettine, offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains were in California recently to conduct a private workout for the former Fresno State quarterback. The Browns aren’t talking about the workout, but Carr is.
“The visit with the Browns went really well,” Carr told Sirius XM Radio on March 31. “They sent a ton of people out here to see me.
“Coach Shanahan ran the workout, made me make every throw an NFL quarterback has to make. They test you in so many ways.”
The Browns are not stopping with Carr. They are expected to hold private workouts with Blake Bortles of Central Florida, Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M and Teddy Bridgewater of Louisville.
Pettine, Shanahan and Loggains all skipped the pro day workouts of the three considered to be the best quarterbacks in the draft because the Browns believe the pro day workouts are too scripted to get a true evaluation of a quarterback.
The Browns own the fourth and 26th picks in the first round of the draft. Draft analysts seem to believe Carr is not worth the fourth pick, though Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com has Carr going fifth to the Raiders and Rob Rang, also of CBSSports.com, has him going eighth to the Vikings.
“I think he’s the best natural thrower as far as arm strength and when you’re just looking at the guy, natural thrower, in the draft,” Pettine told reporters at the league meetings last week in Orlando. “He’s very physically gifted. And a lot of times it’s hard to bet against the family history as well. You’re talking about like a Jake Matthews that it’s the old ‘don’t bet against the genetics.’ I think he certainly falls into that category as well.”
Matthews, a tackle from Texas A&M, is the son of Hall of Fame offensive lineman Bruce Matthews and the nephew of former Browns linebacker Clay Matthews. Carr’s brother is David Carr, who was the first player drafted by the Houston Texans in 2002.
David Carr, much like Tim Couch with the Browns in 1999, had the misfortune to be the first pick of an expansion team. He played 11 seasons with four teams and never lived up to his draft status.
Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians (Couch’s offensive coordinator, by the way) echoed Pettine’s praise of Carr at the league meetings.
“Yeah, he’s got those measurables, and he’s won a lot of ballgames,’’ Arians told reporters. “I’ll have to study him more, but I wouldn’t be surprised (if he goes in the top five).’’
Carr threw 85 touchdown passes compared to 14 interceptions over the last two seasons at Fresno State.